Huge Appearance Bonus Sheds Light on West Ham's Reluctance to Use Diafra Sakho

Much mystery has surrounded Diafra Sakho's £8m departure from West Ham United to Rennes during the winter transfer window, with reports claiming the player's unhappiness at his lack of game time was a key contributing factor in his desire to leave the London Stadium. 

Despite netting 24 times during his Hammers career in 70 appearances in all competitions, both within the starting line up and from the substitutes' bench, the Senegal international's career struggled to really find consistent momentum in east London.

There were thoughts that following the sacking of Slaven Bilic earlier this season the 28-year-old's fortunes would change. However, even under the management of David Moyes no such opportunities were offered. 

Sakho's suspicions continued to rise as the Scot fielded a side against Arsenal in December of last year without a recognised striker on the pitch, despite him watching on from the bench. 

However, following a recent reveal, it now seems that monetary restrictions from the London Stadium hierarchy placed upon the former Everton and Manchester United manager may well have been an influential factor on the frontman's recorded minutes, despite Tony Henry's seemingly racially charged leaked email. 

According to Sportsmail, the Senegalese striker's contract featured a clause that would see him take home an extra £50k if he was named in the starting lineup, or a cool £25k by being used as a substitute. 

Although Moyes has denied these claims as to the reasoning behind him consistently overlooking Sakho, and insisting his team selection is based on footballing ability alone, it would go some way to explaining why out of the 28-year-old's 17 showings across all competitions this term, only two of them were from the outset.